Prevalence and severity of long-term physical, emotional, and cognitive fatigue across 15 different cancer entities

Abstract

Background: Fatigue prevalence and severity have been assessed in a variety of studies, yet, not in a standardized way, and predominantly in breast cancer patients. Systematic, comparative investigations across a broad range of cancer entities are lacking. Methods: The FiX study systematically enrolled 2244 cancer patients across 15 entities approximately 2 years after diagnosis. Fatigue was assessed with the multidimensional EORTC QLQ-FA12 questionnaire. Physical, emotional, cognitive, and total fatigue were compared across entities and with normative values of the general population. Differences in patients' characteristics and cancer therapy between entities were taken into account using analyses of covariance models. Results: Across all entities, mean physical fatigue levels were significantly higher than age- and sex-matched means of the general population for all cancer entities (all Bonferroni-Holm adjusted P